U.S. patent number 4,944,690 [Application Number 07/272,178] was granted by the patent office on 1990-07-31 for electrical connector for flat electrical cables.
This patent grant is currently assigned to AMP Incorporated. Invention is credited to Akira Imai.
United States Patent |
4,944,690 |
Imai |
July 31, 1990 |
Electrical connector for flat electrical cables
Abstract
An electrical connector for electrically connecting electrical
conductors (2b) of a flat electrical cable (2) to electrical
conductive areas of a circuit board comprises a dielectric housing
(3) having electrical contacts (5) secured in the housing with
spring contact sections (5b) located within the housing and
terminating sections (5a) extending outwardly from the housing. A
cover member (4) is movably mounted on the housing (3) from an open
position to permit a section (2a) of the cable (2) to be positioned
along the housing (3) and a closed position whereby the cable
section (2a) is forced by the cover member (4) against the spring
contact sections (5b) so that the contact sections (5b)
electrically engage the respective electrical conductors (2b).
Securing members (6) of the cover member (4) clampingly engage the
cable section (2a) between the securing members (6) and the housing
(3) when the cover member ( 4) is in the closed position thereby
securing the cable between the housing (3) and cover member
(4).
Inventors: |
Imai; Akira (Kanagawa,
JP) |
Assignee: |
AMP Incorporated (Harrisburg,
PA)
|
Family
ID: |
11566644 |
Appl.
No.: |
07/272,178 |
Filed: |
November 16, 1988 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
|
|
|
|
|
Jan 14, 1988 [JP] |
|
|
63-3778 |
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
439/492;
439/495 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H01R
12/79 (20130101); H01R 12/83 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H01R
12/16 (20060101); H01R 12/24 (20060101); H01R
12/00 (20060101); H01R 009/07 () |
Field of
Search: |
;439/492-499 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Other References
AMP Catalog 86-718 Issued 8-88, "AMP FPC Connectors", pp.
1-4..
|
Primary Examiner: McGlynn; Joseph H.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Wolstoncroft; Bruce J. LaRue;
Adrian J.
Claims
I claim:
1. An electrical connector for electrically connecting electrical
conductors of a flat cable to a circuit board, the connector
comprising:
a dielectric housing having electrical contact members secured
therein at spaced intervals corresponding to the spacing of the
electrical conductors of the flat cable, said contact members
having spring contact sections being within said housing for making
electrical connection to the conductors of the flat cable and leg
sections extending outwardly from said housing for electrical
connection to the conductors of the circuit board;
a cover member pivotally and slidably mounted on said housing for
pivoting said cover member between an open position to allow
insertion of the flat cable and a closed position to be held in
that position by sliding said cover member; and
securing members on said cover member extending toward said housing
for clampingly engaging the inserted flat cable in the closed
position of said cover member.
2. An electrical connector of claim 1, wherein the leg sections of
said electrical contact members are surface mountable on the
circuit board.
3. An electrical connector of claim 1, wherein said cover member is
made of a formed metal plate.
4. An electrical connector of claim 1, wherein said cover member is
pivoted at the sides closer to the side mounting said electrical
contact members.
5. An electrical connector for electrically connecting electrical
conductors of a flat cable to a circuit board, comprising:
a dielectric housing having electrical contact members secured
therein at spaced intervals corresponding to the spacing of the
electrical conductors of the flat cable, said contact members
having spring contact sections and leg sections, said spring
contact sections being within said housing for electrical
connection to exposed conductors of the flat cable when a section
of the flat cable is positioned within the housing while said leg
sections extend outwardly from said housing for electrical
connection to conductive areas of the circuit board;
a cover member;
mounting means on said housing and said cover member enabling said
cover member to pivot between an open position so that the section
of the flat cable can be positioned between said housing and said
cover member and a closed position with the exposed conductors in
electrical engagement with the spring contact sections whereafter
said cover member is slidable along said housing to a latching
position;
latch means on the cover member and the housing for latching the
cover member in the closed position; and
securing members of said cover member clampingly engaging the cable
section between the securing members and the housing when the cover
member is in the closed position thereby securing the cable between
the housing and cover member.
6. An electrical connector as claimed in claim 5, wherein said
mounting means comprise pivot projections on said housing and said
cover member ha rectangular openings in which said pivot
projections are disposed.
7. An electrical connector as claimed in claim 5, wherein said
latch means comprise inwardly-directed projections on said cover
member that engage surfaces of said housing.
8. An electrical connector as claimed in claim 5, wherein said leg
sections extend outwardly from a rear surface of said housing and
further leg sections extend outwardly from a front surface of said
housing, the leg sections that extend outwardly from the rear
surface are connectable to the conductive areas of the circuit
board whereas the further leg sections extending outwardly from the
front surface are connectable to metal areas on the circuit board
thereby securing the connector to the circuit board.
9. An electrical connector as claimed in claim 5, wherein the
housing has surfaces disposed opposite the securing members along
which outer parts of the cable section extend so that the cable
section is clamped between the surfaces and the securing members
when the cover member is in the closed position.
10. An electrical connector as claimed in claim 5, wherein the
securing members have pointed ends that dig into the cable
section.
11. An electrical connector as claimed in claim 5, wherein the
cover member has a depressed section for engagement with the cable
section to increase the contact pressure between the conductors and
the spring contact sections.
12. An electrical connector as claimed in claim 11, wherein the
securing members are located outwardly from the depressed section
so that they clampingly engage the cable section adjacent the edges
thereof between the securing members and surfaces of the
housing.
13. A low profile electrical connector for electrically connecting
electrical conductors of a flat cable to a circuit board,
comprising:
a generally rectangular, relatively thin dielectric housing having
an opening at a substantially center portion;
a plurality of electrical contact members mounted in one side of
said dielectric housing at the spacing of the electrical conductors
of the flat cable, said electrical contact members having resilient
contact sections extending into said opening and leg sections
extending outwardly to be electrically connected to conductors on
the circuit board;
a plurality of mounting legs mounted on the opposite side of said
dielectric housing for securing to metal areas on the circuit
board; and
a cover member pivotally mounted on the sides of said dielectric
housing perpendicular to the two sides to be positioned between
open and closed positions, said cover member having a depressed
portion and a plurality of securing members for respectively
pressing the flat cable onto said electrical contact members and
biting the flat cable in the closed position of said cover member.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to an electrical connector for flat flexible
or flexible printed electrical cable to electrically connect the
cable to a printed circuit board.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
An electrical connector is disclosed in U. S. Patent Application
Ser. No. 182,697 filed April 18, 1988 for electrically connecting
electrical conductors of a flat flexible or flexible printed
electrical cable to conductive paths of a printed circuit board
which involves inserting an end of the cable within the connector
and clamping the cable between a cover member and a dielectric
housing so that electrical contacts in the housing are electrically
connected with exposed conductor ends or sections of the conductors
of the cable.
The cable would easily slip out of the connector, because it was
not securely clamped in one version of the connector. In another
version of the connector, holes would be formed in the cable and
mated with projections in the connector housing which would secure
the cable in the connector. This required a special tool to make
the holes in the cable and the cable would be weakened. A further
version of the connector was to force the cover member with a
depressed section that increased the contact pressure between the
contacts and the cable conductors. In the case of a connector with
few electrical contacts, the retention pressure between the
contacts and the cable conductors was insufficient to effectively
retain the cable in the connector. Then a connector with a large
number of contacts was used, the contact pressure of the contacts
on the cable conductors at the outer sides of the cable was higher
than the center contacts on the center cable conductors thereby
causing the connection between the outer contacts and center
conductors to be poor resulting in reduced connector
performance.
The objective of the present invention is to resolve the
above-identified problems and provide an electrical connector for
flat flexible or flexible printed electrical cables that is simple
in structure and retains the flat cable securely in the
connector.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An electrical connector for electrically connecting electrical
conductors of a flat electrical cable of the flat flexible or
flexible printed variety to electrical conductive areas of a
circuit board comprises a dielectric housing having electrical
contacts secured to the housing with spring contact sections and
terminating sections. The contact sections are disposed within the
housing for electrical connection with respective electrical
conductors of the flat cable when a section of the flat cable is
positioned along the housing and the terminating sections extend
outwardly from the housing for electrical connection to respective
conductive areas of the circuit board. A cover member is movably
mounted on the housing from an open position to permit the cable
section to be positioned along the housing and a closed position
whereby the cable section is forced by the cover member against the
contact sections so that the contact sections electrically engage
the respective conductors. Securing members of the cover member
clampingly engage the cable section between the securing members
and the housing when the cover member is in the closed position
thereby securing the cable within the housing.
A reinforcing member is provided on the section of the flat cable
that is positioned in the connector which is engaged by the
securing members on the cover member and the reinforcing member
assists in distributing the pressure being applied to the cable by
the cover member as well as protecting the cable in this area.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention, together with objects and advantages thereof, is
best understood by way of example with reference to the following
description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electrical connector
electrically connected to a flat cable.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the electrical connector with a
cover member in an open position.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 2 with a section of the
flat cable positioned within the connector.
FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing the cover member in a
closed position with the contact sections electrically engaging the
electrical conductors of the flat cable.
FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing the cover member prior
to being moved to a latched position.
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1.
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VII--VII of FIG.
1.
FIG. 8 is a part cross-sectional view in perspective showing a
reinforcing member on the cable and a securing member of the cover
member.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Electrical connector 1, as shown in FIGS. 1-7, includes a
dielectric housing 3 of a suitable dielectric material with spaced
electrical contacts 5 therein which are molded in position during
the molding of the housing. Contacts 5 have terminating sections 5a
extending outwardly from the front and rear surfaces of housing 3
and spring contact sections 5b disposed within an opening 3b of the
housing. The terminating sections 5a are in the form for surface
mounting onto a circuit board (not shown) with the front
terminating sections being soldered to metal areas on the circuit
board to secure the connector thereonto while the rear terminating
sections as part of the contact sections are soldered to conductive
areas of the circuit board. Terminating sections 5a can be also in
the form of posts for disposition in holes in the circuit
board.
A movable cover member 4 is stamped from a suitable metal and is
pivotally mounted on housing 3 via pivot projections 3a extending
outwardly from the sides of the housing at the rear through
openings 4a in the rear sides of the cover member 4. Openings 4a
are large enough to enable the cover member 4 to move along the
housing with the outer inside surfaces of the cover member sliding
along the upper surfaces of the sides of housing 3 until latching
projections 4b of the cover member 4 (FIG. 5) engage surfaces 3c of
housing 3 thereby latching the cover member 4 in position on
housing 3 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 6. Cover member 4 also has an
inwardly-directed depressed section 4c and securing members 6.
Flat cable 2 is a conventional cable that can be of the flat
flexible or flexible printed type which has spaced electrical
conductors 2b (FIG. 8) on one surface. A stiffly flexible
reinforcing member 2a of dielectric material is secured onto the
section of cable 2 opposite conductors 2b that is to be positioned
in connector 1.
To connect flat cable 2 to connector 1, cover member 4 is moved in
the direction of arrow A, FIG. 1, which causes the cover member to
be unlatched and pivoted to an open position as shown in FIGS. 2
and 3 by the spring contact sections 5b. The reinforced section of
the cable 2 is positioned within the connector 1 between the
housing 3 and the cover member 4, as shown in FIG. 3. Cover member
4 is then moved to a closed position in the direction of arrow B,
FIG. 3, with depressed section 4c and securing members 6 of the
cover member 4 engaging reinforcing member 2a thereby forcing the
conductors 2b into electrical engagement with the respective spring
contact sections 5b. Depressed section 4c increases the contact
pressure between conductors 2b and spring contact sections 5b. The
cover member 4 is then slid in the direction of arrow A', FIGS. 4,
5, whereby depressed section 4c and securing members 6 slide along
the reinforcing member 2a and projections 4b engage surfaces 3 c
thereby latching the cover member 4 in the closed position as shown
in FIGS. 1 and 5 and clamping the reinforced section of the cable
between the cover member and the housing.
Securing members 6 have pointed ends that dig into the reinforcing
member 2a thereby securing the cable 2 in the connector 1 by
clamping the outer parts of the cable and reinforcing member
adjacent the edges between the pointed ends of the securing members
6 and surfaces 3d of housing 3 within opening 3b which are disposed
opposite securing member 6, as shown in FIG. 7. Thus, the cable is
clampingly secured in connector 1 between the surfaces 3d of
housing 3 and the securing members 6 of cover member 4 with the
depressed section 4c of cover member 4 maintaining the conductors
2b of the flat cable 2 in electrical engagement with the spring
contact sections 5b. Securing members 6 are located outwardly from
the ends of depressed section 4c.
The advantages of the connector of this invention are the
following: The connector is of simple construction; no forming of
the cable needs to be done such as focusing holes in it thereby
reducing manufacturing costs; the cable is effectively secured in
the connector with no damage to the connector or cable as a result
of the clamping pressures effected by the securing members; the
connector is suitable for flat flexible cables which cannot have
holes formed therein; imperfect electrical engagement between the
cable conductors and the spring contact sections is eliminated
thereby guaranteeing high performance of the connector.
* * * * *